96 Linda Wise (with Speakers)

Shaun Linda Wise was a mother and grandmother who gave everything she could, even when she had little for herself. She was known for her kindness, her strength, and the way she always put her family first.

John But in twenty sixteen, Linda's children were left to face the unthinkable. Their mother had been murdered in her own home. Tonight, we're telling Linda's story and the ripple effects of the violence that took her life.

Shaun Hi, and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast where we focus on domestic violence as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I'm your host, Sean.

John And I'm your co-host, John. Before we get to this week's case, we are starting a new segment this week concerning cold missing persons cases here in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Metro just recently released a missing person cold case website. They've hired a full time investigator and she is dedicated to solving these cold cases. They have one hundred cases open currently, ranging from nineteen sixty two to two thousand and twenty three. Over seven thousand missing persons cases were opened last year alone, but the great majority of those were just closed very quickly. In a recent interview, that full time cold case investigator reminded everyone that they're interested in any tip, no matter how small, which might lead to a case being solved. And she emphasized also that many of these types of cases are solved that way through tips from the community. So our plan is to highlight one of these cases every episode, with the hope that someone might remember something and report it. To do that, you can email Missing Persons Cold Case at lvmpd, or you can call seven oh two eight two eight two nine oh seven, and you would reference the case number listed on the website. You can also call Crime Stoppers at seven oh two three eight five five five five five, or submit online at Crime Stoppers to remain anonymous, we've created a short link to the website at. Not all these cases have many details, but we'll do what we can to bring you the details we have and to put a spotlight on these cases. We'll post any additional sources or information about the cases that we can find in our source list that we include with every episode. Our first case is the disappearance of Rocco Joseph Rinella, who was last seen on November third, twenty twenty one. There is some conflicting information about what the actual date is that he was last seen, but most sources agree that it was November third. Rocco was forty two years old at that time. He would be forty six. Now he's five foot ten and one hundred and eighty pounds. He's a Caucasian male with brown hair and brown eyes and tribal tattoos on his arms. He also had some minor degree of what's called cauliflower ear, and that's likely from boxing, wrestling or jiu jitsu. That's a deformity that can happen based on trauma in contact sports, where the ear can become puffy and then hardened to look slightly deformed. He was wearing a grey or black long sleeve shirt and tight fitting jeans with back pocket designs. Police said he was in severe emotional distress and might have needed medical assistance. He spoke to his family over the phone on November first, twenty twenty one. His vehicle was recovered at the junction of State Road one hundred fifty six and one hundred fifty eight, which is also Deer Creek Road and Lee Canyon Road in Mount Charleston. So that's one of the two main ways to get into Mount Charleston, Lee Canyon Road. And the other one is Kyle Canyon Road. And this is, of course, all inside the Mount Charleston Recreational Area, which is about an hour northwest of the center of Las Vegas. There were reports at the time that he may have been hitchhiking in the area, and his mom had a GoFundMe to try and raise money back in twenty twenty one to come search for her son, and she mentioned that Rocco was a very kind and helpful person who had taken care of his younger brother Michael, who suffered many years with muscular dystrophy. And we will share that link. If you know anything about Rocco's whereabouts or his disappearance, please reach out to the new Cold Case Unit. We'll share photos of him on our social media. And with that, let's move on to this week's case.

Shaun This week's case is about a woman named Linda Wise, who was a mother and a grandmother who gave everything she could, even when she had little for herself. She was known for her kindness, her strength, and the way she always put her family first. Linda was born on April first, nineteen sixty three, and as we mentioned in the intro, she was killed in May of twenty sixteen and she was only fifty three years old. She had three children, and they described her as someone who would do anything for her kids and her grandkids, even when money was tight, which it often was, Linda still gave whatever she could so cash, but also her time and her kindness and her compassion to people in need. In one of the articles in my research, Linda's son asked to remain anonymous when he talked to the press. So out of respect, we're not going to use his name. And just to extend that out to the rest of his family, I'm not going to use the names of his sisters either. Her son remembered a conversation with her not long before she died, where Linda admitted that she just couldn't say no to people, even people who had wronged her. And he said that who she was was a helper, a nurturer, and someone whose first instinct was to care. Her older daughter described Linda as kind, spirited and strong willed, and that she was the type of person who would lend a hand to a stranger without hesitation. So she just lived her life, centered around her three kids and her grandkids. And it was around twenty eleven that Linda began dating a man named Michael Arthur Garcia. And right from the beginning, Linda's kids were uneasy about him. Her older daughter would later say that she never liked him. Michael Garcia was born in nineteen sixty one, and by the time he had met Linda, his criminal record already included domestic violence, battery, assault, disorderly conduct, drug charges, and carrying a concealed weapon. And all of that violent history wasn't just in the past. He had been violent with Linda during their relationship and according to her, kids, had threatened to kill her as well as her family. Linda's children knew that he was a dangerous person. In early May of twenty sixteen, Linda told her kids that she was going on vacation and according to them, you know, when she would go away, it was not unusual for her to unplug, you know, from social media, from her phone during those times. So when they didn't hear from her right away, they didn't panic. They just thought she was on vacation, just enjoying herself, relaxing, disconnecting for a while. By May eleventh, no one had heard from her and on May thirteenth, her youngest daughter went by her house. She had kind of forgotten about the vacation thing. She wasn't going there with the purpose of like, checking on her because she thought something was wrong. She was just kind of forgot that she was supposed to be away and went by her mom's house. Linda lived near Nellis and Pecos, so kind of in the northeast part of town. And sadly, when her younger daughter walked inside, she found just a horrifying scene. Linda had been stabbed and had died on the floor of the house. There were shoeprints in the blood around Linda's body. Linda herself was not wearing shoes, so they knew that someone else had been there and had walked through the blood. There were also towels from the house that had been used in an attempt to clean up. Of course, her daughter called the paramedics and the police, and when the paramedics arrived, it was too late to revive Linda. She had likely died a few days earlier, and the police were able to recover the murder weapon. The handle of the knife was found near Linda's body, but the blade was under the couch. Her older daughter later said it was just something so shocking that you could never, ever think would happen, especially in that way. It's not something you can ever prepare for in a violent, brutal, heartless way like that. The house also showed that there had been a fight or a struggle, and I mentioned that there was evidence that someone had cleaned up. There were also blood smears found in each of the bathrooms of the house. A one interesting thing is that Linda's cell phone was found inside the washing machine.

John And it seemed like someone was trying to clean up.

Shaun I think either they were looking to hide it and didn't think anyone would find it in there, or they might have tried to run it through the wash to try and break it, to erase evidence. We'll get to that later. In any of the sources I read, there was no explanation as to why the phone was in the washer or if anything else was in the washer along with it, or if it was just in there alone.

John But it was definitely some sort of cover up attempt.

Shaun I think that's what the police believe.

John Yeah, it had to be.

Shaun Yeah. I don't think it was like an accident that Linda accidentally left it in a pocket of a jacket or pants or something, and ended up in the wash. That would be really weird. So, given everything they knew about Michael, the kids right away, they're convinced he has to be the one that killed her. And one of the daughters was quoted on channel eight saying, I know he did it. My brother and sister know he did it, and I just want him to be a man about it and come forward like you left someone that you loved. The police started their investigation, asking neighbors if they had seen or heard anything, and one of the neighbors reported seeing a man leaving Linda's home on the morning of May twelfth, just one day before her body was found. The neighbor said that he was coming out of the house, and he looked at her kind of suspiciously, so she turned around and went back inside her house because she thought maybe he was. He had broken in, or he was a burglar of some kind. And she was like, I, I'm getting out of here.

John Understandable.

Shaun Yeah. She described the man as being heavyset. At least two hundred pounds and five foot eight. He was in his forties with facial hair, which of course matched the description for Michael Garcia, and later she was able to pick him out of a lineup.

John Wow.

Shaun So they had her phone. The investigators, they looked they looked through her text messages and they could see on May eighth that she and Michael had had a fight and he was angry, threatening her again. He was accusing her of cheating on him, and it was obvious that she was breaking up with him too. There was just it was just a bad argument. And like we talked about, Linda's daughter knew that he had this violent history and she just kind of said, this is his third strike, and I never want to see him out of jail again. The police somehow I don't I wish I had more details on this because I think you would actually find this part of it, like, kind of interesting. Um, they used his cell phone GPS to track his movements and eventually catch him. So they determined that on May twelfth, he left Las Vegas and he fled to California. And they were able to, I guess, keep an eye on his location. I'm not sure if that was due to the fact that they had Linda's phone, but they were able to find him at a bus stop and arrest him, and he was charged with murder with a deadly weapon and held without bail in his arrest report. I thought this was really interesting because I think a lot of times they say, you know, eyewitness testimony isn't the most reliable thing. People don't always pay attention. They make mistakes, um, because we're all human. But Linda's neighbor had given such an accurate description of Garcia. The arrest report lists him as five foot nine and weighing two hundred forty. And he had a goatee in his mugshot.

John Yeah, that's pretty dead on.

Shaun I was like, wow, good job. Yeah, good looking out. I think she probably really strongly suspected that he had committed some kind of crime like a burglar. And she was like, I'm gonna pay attention. Um, so that given everything the neighbor's testimony, the neighbor's ID, the neighbor's testimony, the physical evidence at the apartment, the threatening text messages, the case against Michael Garcia was was very strong. And as a result, he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon. This is the part that really got to me. He was sentenced to four to ten years for the murder.

John Wow. That's really light.

Shaun Plus a consecutive term of four to ten years for the deadly weapon enhancement.

John Was there any indication why it was such a light sentence?

Shaun I think it was just part of the plea deal.

John I wonder if they didn't feel like they had enough evidence to get any more than that.

Shaun Maybe. Maybe they didn't think it could rise to the level of first degree murder. I don't I honestly, I wish, I wish I knew because it does seem light, not only given the fact that it was a murder, but that he had such a long criminal history as well. Kind of like the the kid said it was his third strike. I would think the punishment would have been stronger.

John But also that he fled.

Shaun He fled?

John Yeah. So it wasn't I mean, he pled to voluntary manslaughter, but that seems really light. That seems insanely light to me.

Shaun Um, and let's see, he was born in sixty one, so at this time, how old was he? Fifty one years old at the time of the murder. So even though the. Her daughter said, you know, I want him to never get out of jail, the max he's going to do is twenty. And the the least would, would have been eight years.

John Wow.

Shaun So for for their family, of course, like nothing could bring her back. But their hope had always been that he would never walk free again. So this sentence, of course, like we were saying, is terribly light to them, especially given his violent history and not just his criminal record, but also like against Linda as well. So Michael Garcia, he got sent to High Desert State Prison, which is a maximum security facility northwest of Las Vegas, and in June of twenty twenty three, according to the Nevada Department of Corrections. Garcia was taken to Centennial Hills Hospital and pronounced dead at age sixty one.

John What?

Shaun I don't know how he died. It's not specified. I don't know if it. I don't know if it was medical. I don't know if he died by suicide. I don't know if it was an accident. I could not find that anywhere.

John Um, this is not the first time we've heard about that.

Shaun No. In twenty twenty three alone, Garcia was one of at least four inmates that had been specifically convicted of domestic violence murders who died in Nevada prisons in twenty twenty three. He was one of four. And one of those actually is Justin Burns, who killed Michelle Carson, and he later died by suicide while he was in prison. We covered Michelle's murder and her father's, um, advocacy, uh, domestic violence awareness advocacy. That was back in episode twenty eight, in our first season.

John So we've talked about how there's a huge problem in Nevada prisons with inmates, security and these constant seemingly never ending deaths of inmates.

Shaun It's it feels like it's getting worse. Um, it's definitely a troubling pattern in the prison system since July of twenty twenty five. So right now we're talking it is just the first couple days of October in twenty twenty five. So between July and September, twelve inmates have died in the prison system and most of them are men. I think perhaps all of them are men, but they are in their twenties and 30s. These are not like older men who maybe had been incarcerated for a long time, have heart conditions or or diabetes or some something like that. These are are young, younger guys and including a man named Jacob Herman, who was only thirty five and he was in prison to serve one to three years for larceny.

Shaun Wow.

Shaun How and Demetria Wallace. He was only eighteen and he was serving three to six years for robbery. And both of them, both of their deaths are suspected homicides.

John And I imagine that the investigation around those homicides is not going to be very vigorous.

Shaun I know their families have sued the Department of Corrections, and they're trying to get some answers. But something's going on in the prison system. And you and I, like we said, it's come up quite a bit in the past few years that we've seen inmates die under suspicious circumstances. There's been reports of overcrowding. Um, there was an inmate swap or something that happened last year, and that caused some tension in the prison system. So we're planning to look into this in more detail this season. I really want to talk about that, because we've said that before on the show, that getting convicted of a crime doesn't mean that it should be a death sentence. I mean, especially if you're talking about one to three years for for larceny.

Shaun Right.

Shaun You know, that's not it's not supposed to be that way.

Shaun We can have this conversation.

John About the death penalty separately.

Shaun But.

John Someone serving three to six years for burglary, the sentence for that is never death.

Shaun Right? Right. And then you see these young men, too. So, yeah, we're going to look more in depth than that. See what we can find out. See what we can share with you. Because, you know, I find it interesting that Linda's. I wanted to cover this story because Linda's family, you know, they say this guy's got a violent history. He killed our mother. We want him to go away. We never want him to get out. And I'm not. I'm not implying they did anything, but just that they they're looking at this sentence and saying like, gosh, like eight to twenty. That's too light for for what this man has done. But in the end, he never got out of prison. None of this, of course, changes the pain of losing their mother, someone who was always trying to help others no matter what. They did have a GoFundMe that they tried to raise some money to lay her to rest, but I don't think it was very successful. Um, and at this point, um, considering she died in twenty twelve, I, I don't think it's still open or there's I'm not asking any listeners to donate to the cause because I don't think it was very successful, and I don't think they're still looking to raise money that way, but they continue to carry her spirit with them. And I wanted to share, you know, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and it's important to remember that the harm of domestic violence is it ripples outward. It affects children, families, entire communities, and even years later, the people who caused so much pain can meet violent ends themselves, like Michael Garcia possibly did. He had a long history of violence, including attempted murder. So the warning signs were there and the system did not adequately punish him early on.

John The system failed on both ends. It failed to punish him for what he did, and then it failed to protect him once he was in prison.

Shaun Yeah, there's I saw no evidence that in any of the crimes he committed, that he was ever required to undergo any kind of mental health treatment or anything like that. And then sometimes with minor domestic violence charges, there's the requirement that someone undergo batterers treatment to try and unlearn some of those patterns, to try and or even something basic like anger management, which has mixed success with domestic violence. But it doesn't even seem like there was any attempt to do that. So it's just it feels like another time where it wasn't addressed early on with the seriousness it deserved. And possibly if it had been, it might have saved Linda's life. It might have protected her family from this tragedy. But like you said, he was the the system didn't fail to. It failed to rehabilitate him. It failed to protect his family. And then ultimately, it failed to protect him when he was in, he was their responsibility. But just before we conclude, I just want to say that the real loss, of course, in this story is Linda, a woman who should still be here with her children and her grandchildren and who should have been safe in her own home. So we just want to share a reminder that, of course, if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or has been affected by domestic violence, help is available in the US. The DV hotline is open twenty four over seven. It's one eight hundred seven hundred ninety nine safe. And then if you go to Since. Podcast resources. We have other local resources for the Las Vegas area for Nevada, as well as resources, even international resources. So if you're listening from outside of the country, as many of our listeners are, there are resources on there. I believe we have a list that includes something for nearly every country in the world because, as we always say, what happens here happens everywhere.

John Thanks for listening. Visit podcast, subscribe for exclusive bonus content and to listen ad free. Remember to like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and threads at Sins and survivors. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice. You can contact us at Assassins and Survivors Comm.

Shaun  If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence or needs support, please reach out to local resources or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources is available on our website. Survivors, comm and survivors. A Las Vegas true crime podcast is researched, written and produced by your host, Sean and John. The information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time of recording. If you have questions, concerns or corrections, please email us. Links to source material for this episode can be found on our website. Com.

John The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast creators, hosts and their guests. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does not constitute legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with legal professionals for guidance.